Flowers in the Attic

Plot

In 1957, the Dollanganger children — 14-year-old Chris, 12-year-old Cathy, and 5-year-old twins Carrie and Cory — live happily with their parents, Christopher and Corrine, in Pennsylvania. When Christopher dies in a car crash, the family is left debt-ridden. Four months later, Corrine announces that they are going to move and live with her wealthy parents in Virginia. She explains to her children that she was estranged from her parents and that's why she changed her last name from her maiden name, Foxworth.

On arrival at Foxworth Hall, Corrine's grim, cold-hearted mother, Olivia, takes the children to a small room in the attic. The next day, the children are given a list of rules and Olivia tells them to stay in the attic at all times. Corrine explains that her father, Malcolm, disowned her for eloping with Christopher, who was actually her biological half-uncle (her father's younger half-brother) and they were disinherited. She promises the children she will make her father forgive her; once he has forgiven her, she will introduce him to the children, and they will live happily together at Foxworth Hall.

Corrine's visits to the attic become less frequent as she begins to enjoy her new-found wealth and starts a relationship with her father's lawyer, Bart Winslow. She informs the children that while her father has forgiven her, she cannot let them meet him because she claimed that she did not have any children; thus, they will have to remain in the attic until Malcolm dies. Corrine's visits all but cease during the next year. Due to lack of fresh air and sunshine, the twins' growth has severely slowed; meanwhile, Cathy and Chris are entering puberty. Chris accidentally walks in on Cathy while she is trying on her first bra. Olivia catches them and calls them sinners and tries to cut off Cathy's hair as punishment. Chris stops her, but she threatens to starve them for a week if he does not cut Cathy's hair himself. Cathy and Chris refuse to comply and give their remaining food to the twins while they rely mostly on water. Olivia appears to relent and leaves them a basket of food; however, Cathy awakens to find tar in her hair the next morning. As Chris reluctantly cuts her hair, he tells her that he finds her beautiful, but knows it is wrong to think of her like that.

Another year passes and Corrine has not visited in months. Cathy and Chris conclude that their mother has abandoned them and begin planning their escape. When Corrine does return, she happily announces she has married Bart and the reason for her absence was her honeymoon in Europe. She is upset that the children are not more excited and seems oblivious to the deterioration in the twins. Olivia soon brings the children sugar-powdered doughnuts, which she says are a gift from their mother. Olivia beats Chris with a belt after he demands to be called by his name rather than "boy," because he was named after his father, whose name the family does not mention due to his marriage to Corrine. Cathy tends to his wounds and admits her fear of losing him. Chris assures her nothing will happen to him and they kiss. When Olivia comes to deliver their food, Chris tells her that she was right about them being the "devil's spawn" and pleads for forgiveness. After she leaves, Chris reveals the whole scene was a scheme to get an impression of the attic key in soap, and he carves a wooden copy.

Production

Casting

Flowers in the Attic was announced on July 23, 2013, as a television film for the Lifetime network. It was also announced that the film would star Heather Graham as Corrine Dollanganger and Ellen Burstyn as Olivia Foxworth. It was also announced that the film would be directed by Deborah Chow and written by Kayla Alpert.

On August 14, it was announced that Kiernan Shipka and Mason Dye had been cast as Cathy and Chris respectively. During the same month, it was announced that Dylan Bruce had joined the cast as Bart Winslow, Corrine's love interest.

Release

Broadcast

In its original televised airing, the film was watched by 6.06 million total viewers, and had a rating (percentage) of 1.9 in the 18-49 age demographic. At the time, it was cable's number-one original movie performance since the October 2012 premiere of Steel Magnolias.

Home media

On April 15, 2014, Flowers in the Attic was released in DVD format for Region 1. The single disc featured the entire film, as well as a behind-the-scenes featurette with the cast and crew. It was later re-released on June 23, 2015, with Petals on the Wind as a "Double Feature." On November 10, 2015, it was included in a "4-Film Collection" with Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, and Seeds of Yesterday.

Reception

Critical response

Flowers in the Attic received mixed reviews from critics, albeit far more positive reviews than the 1987 adaptation. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 52% of 25 critics gave the film a positive review; the consensus reads, "This twisted tale of premium cable fodder winds up collecting dust in a stale adaptation of Flowers in the Attic." The film averaged 49 out of 100, based on 22 critics, on Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

Accolades

For her performance, Burstyn was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Shipka was nominated an Online Film & Television Association Award for her performance.

Sequels

Based on the next book of the Dollanganger series, Petals on the Wind premiered on Lifetime on May 26, 2014, earning 3.4 million viewers, down from the 6.1 million earned by Flowers. Unlike the book, the film jumped ten years ahead from the events of Flowers. It starred Rose McIver as Cathy, Wyatt Nash as Christopher, replacing Kiernan Shipka and Mason Dye from the previous movie, respectively, and Will Kemp as Julian Marquet, with Heather Graham as Corrine and Ellen Burstyn as Olivia Foxworth. Production for the film began on February 25, 2014, in Los Angeles.

On the premiere of the sequel, Lifetime announced the production of the two following books in the Dollanganger series, If There Be Thorns and Seeds of Yesterday, both which premiered in 2015. Both sequels were shot by cinematographer James Liston.

A 6th adaptation includes the Lifetime series Flowers in the Attic: The Origin (2022, 4 episodes).